Abstract: The "Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health" (HITECH) Act portion of the AVA is currently being enacted. Among the many goals, this ACA bill targets increased use of the health information thecnology by requiring the government to take a leadership role in developing stnadards that allow for the nationwide use of EMR to improve quality and coordination of care. The bill stiupulates an investment of $20 billion in electronic infrastructure and Medicare and Medicaid incentives to encourage doctors and hospitals to digitally exchange patients' and medical records.